Photo By Stacey Reese | Nathan Hoskins, zone manager, and Sara Waterbury, data manager, verify debris truck...... read more read more
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Sara Waterbury is supporting the Helene recovery mission as a data manager for the debris missions in North Carolina.
In this capacity, she reviews truck load tickets against the manually written logs and confirms cubic yardage manually logged matches what is in the Automated Debris Management System.
“I also do random sampling reviews of the tickets and invoices to ensure they match,” said Waterbury. “The reviews verify that contractors receive accurate payments while also ensuring proper stewardship of federal funds.”
She is proud to be the person behind the scenes, freeing up other people’s time to be in the field. Before she came to the office, the field people had to spend part of their time doing the computer and verification work she now performs.
"Before Sara took on this role, the field teams had to split their time between managing debris and handling data verification,” said Nate Hoskins debris zone manager. “Now, we can focus entirely on the mission in the field, knowing she is taking care of the paperwork and accuracy checks.”
Waterbury began her career in civil service with USACE in 2000 as an office automation clerk in Memphis District with the construction branch. She left USACE for a while and worked for USDA and the Navy but returned to Memphis District in 2020 as an office support assistant in the revetment branch. She currently serves the district as an operations program analyst.
“I have enjoyed all of my civil service jobs,” said Waterbury, “but USACE, Memphis District feels like home to me.”
This is the second disaster deployment mission for Waterbury. She first volunteered to respond following Hurricane Laura, where she supported the temporary housing mission.
For that mission, she said it felt good to help people get back to their property after the disaster. “Even if they were in a FEMA trailer and not in their home, they were back to the place they knew as home,” she said.
While Waterbury’s work revolves around an office and a computer, she has been able to get out in the field and see projects at Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, Bat Cave and Swannanoa.
“I don’t know where I would be if this happened in my own back yard,” she said. “I am grateful to be a part of this mission.”
The Corps of Engineers is working in partnership with local, state and federal agencies, to include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in response to the historic flooding from Hurricane Helene. Current efforts include removing right of way debris from the city of Asheville, North Carolina; Buncombe, Polk and McDowell counties; as well as Lake Lure, North Carolina Arboretum and the Highlands Recreation Area in Macon County. In addition to debris removal, USACE is also working with the city of Asheville and Buncombe County to provide safe drinking water along with a waterway debris mission for eleven impacted counties.
| Date Taken: | 02.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.04.2025 18:04 |
| Story ID: | 490110 |
| Location: | ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 198 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Every load counts: Sara Waterbury helps keep debris cleanup on track for Helene Recovery Mission in Western North Carolina, by Stacey Reese, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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